Know something that should be featured in School Notes? Awards? Special events? School fairs? Fax a brief write-up to 703-917-0991 or write an e-mail to Joy Allen at mclean@connectionnewspapers.com
The Great Falls Art Center is registering now for its annual Summer Art Camp, which takes place throughout August for children over age 6. Parents may choose the weeks they want their children to participate.
Instruction is different for each week, and the campers attend Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Art learning includes drawing, painting, sculpture, pottery and appreciation of great artists through the ages. The program includes daily lunches, games and swimming on the hot days until pickup time at 3 p.m. All staff members are professionally trained and experienced with degrees in education, art and child development.
For an application, call 703-759-3867.
The Great Falls Art Center holds regular, once-a-week classes in drawing, oil painting, pottery, sculpture and art history for children 6 and older, as well as for teenagers, adults and seniors. GFAC teachers are experienced, professional art educators.
For directions to the studio on Walker Road or for a schedule of classes, call 703-759-3867 or e-mail greatfallsart@yahoo.com.
McLean Project for the Arts presents workshops for children 6-11. Each session is planned to be fun and creative and has its own theme, including puppets and masks, nature, 3-D art adventures and more. Morning sessions for rising first- through third-graders meet Mondays-Fridays, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Afternoon sessions for rising third- through sixth-graders are 1-3:30 p.m. Tuition is $100 ($110 nonresidents). Some sessions have already filled. To check on availability or for more information, call McLean Project for the Arts, 703-790-1953, or the McLean Community Center, 703-790-0123.
The Old Firehouse Teen Center (OFTC) will again offer its After-School Adventure Program this fall. OFTC is a satellite program of the McLean Community Center. The cost of the program is $375 per quarter for McLean district residents, $400 per quarter for others. Payment for the first quarter and OFTC membership ($25 per year for McLean district residents/$30 for others) will be due at registration. Parents may register their children at the OFTC during regular business hours.
The After School Adventure Program is held Monday through Friday, 2:30–6 p.m., and includes transportation from Cooper and Longfellow middle schools, snacks, tutors, transportation to off-site events and a daily activity. Each day there will be a structured, supervised event; tutoring; community service projects; movies; and more. There also will be off-site trips and activities such as bowling, indoor swimming and Build-A-Bear.
The Old Firehouse has secured a set of textbooks from Cooper and Longfellow middle schools, which are kept on-site. Students attending other schools or who are being home-schooled are welcome to register for this program, but there will be no transportation provided from their schools. The program is not held when Fairfax County Public Schools are closed or have an early-release day. On these days, the center will be open from 8 a.m.–6 p.m. for member "drop-ins."
For more information, call the Old Firehouse Teen Center, 703-448-TEEN (8336); McLean Community Center, 703-790-0123; or visit www.mcleancenter.org.
Kane Kanagawa of the Potomac School and Veronica Yeh of Marshall High School were among 25 local high school students representing ten high schools recently graduated from the Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute (PYLI) sponsored by Volunteer Fairfax. The institute provides students with a unique combination of leadership and community service skills that prepare them for active roles in improving the quality of life in their communites. PYLI is a national program that offers a high caliber of leadership training that is typically unavailable to students this age. This is the third year it has been offered by Volunteer Fairfax in Fairfax County.
During the weeklong institute, students garnered a fundamental understanding of the need and potential for community service, and learned how young people can apply leadership skills to make their communities better places to live.
The institute features a curriculum developed by the Center for Creative Leadership, one of the world’s foremost authorities on leadership principles. It includes approximately 30 hours of classroom instruction, with segments on community analysis, goal setting, team building, project planning, decision-making and other leadership dynamics. Through PYLI’s activities and end goal of creating a service project, students increase self awareness, self-confidence, the ability to impact the community, goal setting skills, communication skills, and team building skills.
Volunteer Fairfax is a private nonprofit corporation serving the Fairfax County community since 1975. Volunteer Fairfax is a vital community resource for volunteers and nonprofit organizations and public agencies. For more information, visit the Volunteer Fairfax Web site at www.volunteerfairfax.org or call Mary-Litton Thornton at 703-246-3460.
Twenty-eight students from high schools in 11 states participated in the eighth annual Mathematics Summer Camp for High School Girls, July 18-24, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One of the participants was Youngeun Kim, a student at Langley High School in Great Falls. The camp is designed to provide a stimulating and supportive environment for girls to develop their mathematical abilities and interests. Participants took a weeklong course about the exciting mathematics of codes and well as minicourses on bioinformatics, aerodynamics and knots.